The traveling knife.

dsutton24

dsutton24

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A silly story...

Before Thanksgiving I bought a knife from an eBay seller. The knife was nothing expensive or unusual, just a pocketknife, and the seller did everything right. Can you guess where it all fell apart? I knew you could!

It originated in New York, through New Jersey, Indianapolis, then St Louis. Usually St Louis means it's in my mail box in the middle of Illinois the next day.

Nope.

Next it's in New Jersey, Detroit, Pontiac, then it made a left turn, back to Indianapolis, then St. Louis. It orbited various facilities in St. Louis for four days, then ended up out for delivery in a small town in the Ozarks. It's a beautiful town, I've been there several times.

Missent.

Back to bouncing around in St Louis. I got an email from the seller this morning telling me the package was in New Jersey this morning.

I stopped by my post office after work tonight. As far as they could tell the package is in St Lous right now. The USPS tracking says it's sitting in Akron right now.

Three trips through St Louis, three trips through New Jersey for a package that started in New York and was destined for Illinois. Fourteen days on the road...

Kind of interesting.
 
dsutton24 said:
A silly story...

Before Thanksgiving I bought a knife from an eBay seller. The knife was nothing expensive or unusual, just a pocketknife, and the seller did everything right. Can you guess where it all fell apart? I knew you could!

It originated in New York, through New Jersey, Indianapolis, then St Louis. Usually St Louis means it's in my mail box in the middle of Illinois the next day.

Nope.

Next it's in New Jersey, Detroit, Pontiac, then it made a left turn, back to Indianapolis, then St. Louis. It orbited various facilities in St. Louis for four days, then ended up out for delivery in a small town in the Ozarks. It's a beautiful town, I've been there several times.

Missent.

Back to bouncing around in St Louis. I got an email from the seller this morning telling me the package was in New Jersey this morning.

I stopped by my post office after work tonight. As far as they could tell the package is in St Lous right now. The USPS tracking says it's sitting in Akron right now.

Three trips through St Louis, three trips through New Jersey for a package that started in New York and was destined for Illinois. Fourteen days on the road...

Kind of interesting.
Click to expand...
Post offices are loosing their minds at the moment.
 
i live in Colorado. i had someone send me a package from Kansas. over 2 weeks later, it had been as far away as Hawaii, Montana, Utah, Alanta, then all the way to Arizona.
then one day it is in my box without any damage, a perfectly printed label. without any other USPS marks or labels on the box. go figure.
 
Drop bear said:
Post offices are loosing their minds at the moment.
Click to expand...
"At the moment"???
I believe they started losing their marbles about 20 ... 25 years ago ...
Any yet they want to raise rates yet again, even tho service is below the basement.
I recall when it took 3 days or less anywhere in the country for a domestic letter/postcard or first class package outside the "holiday" seasons. (stamp for a 1st class letter was $0.05 then, too.)
DaRn government monopolies ...
 
I have heard horror stories over the years, but have always received good service from the USPS. The horror stories have increased over the last several years after the installation of a Postmaster General who comes from the private sector, and appears determined to sabotage the postal service with a view toward eventually privatizing it. Saying any more would push this discussion into the political, so I will just leave it at that.
 
sf fanatic said:
Ask some of our foreign members about their postal services and I think you’ll have a greater appreciation of the USPS. 🤷
Click to expand...
Absolutely.
Delivery time depends but it takes usually around 10days, often go faster, even with the now mandatory custom clearance.
UPS is a bunch of mobsters, they charge you heavily for files that don't exist anywhere and don't send back the parcel when you don't pay. Now if shipping is UPS its a no-no... I know it's fifferent in the States. The only common thing is the van color !
I'm satisfied with our home service, La Poste, has the usual up and down but globally is very correct. There's a privatized branch that' s more expensive ,Chronopost but don't deliver a better service.
 
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It had to end sometime. Since I posted the OP the knife made another loop through Pontiac, Detroit, and St. Louis. It finally made it to my mailbox this morning.

All is well. I looked the mailer over carefully, it's properly addressed, everything is legible, it has appropriate postage on it. It has been a wild ride.
 
dsutton24 dsutton24 Glad you got it! Living in the middle of Illinois also, I know the path you are talking about. Usually no problem for me. (Fervently knocking on wood as I post this...)
 
I had one in 2020 or 2021 spend about a month going through St. Louis and Cincy for some reason over and over again.

Called USPS and they got it sorted out never was told why it kept showing back and forth as the lady said it was just stuck in St. Louis.
 
I've had my share of wandering packages, but that doesn't bother me as much as not seeing any updates for days on end. That is my current situation. NUTS!
 
In 2019 my Mnandi started in Chicago and went to and from there everyday for a week before going to Puerto Rico for a week before going back to Chicago then to Omaha then to me.
 
Just a few weeks ago I had one go all the way to my post office and say “out for delivery”, then it went back to the post office, then went 100 miles away and stayed there for a week.

The shipper and I both filled out a missing mail form. It moved the next day all the way here.
 
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